The 2005 season of the Stockton Ports finished yesterday. The team had a very good second half of the season, finishing in first place and now begins the California League playoffs against the fearsome Modesto Nuts. If anything, you gotta love the team names in the minor leagues. The California League is also a Class A league, which means they not only get the youngest, most inexperienced players but also the lamest team names...

The big news for the Ports was the inauguration of their new downtown ballpark, known unofficially as Banner Island Ballpark, though the "Island" part is apparently a historical reference to the time when the location actually was an island. The park is on the downtown waterfront though, right next to the almost-finished downtown sports arena and the soon-be-started fancy hotel. The new ballpark is very much a part of the trend in recent years to combine nostalgia for ye olde baseballe days with nostalgia for ye olde Maine Streete, but with a modernized and slightly sanitized look and feel. The new park is, however, a mammoth upgrade from the team's old park, which was not much more than a glorified community diamond. The "BIB" adopts many of the by-now standard elements of the baseball redesign craze, including more low-angle seating closer to the field and wacky outfield wall configurations (including what they call a "mini monster" in left field -- a reference to the famous left field monster at Fenway Park in Boston).

R3 and I had a mini-season ticket plan this year comprised of six Saturday night games (about once a month). From the inside the park is as spiffy and new as you would expect. It really does try to miniaturize the major league experience, from concessions to box seats, to the look of the field. In some ways though, it was too good, too perfect, too much like a major league game. The quality of play and fan interaction gimmicks of course reminded us that this was minor league baseball, but the perfect green grass and light brown dirt seemed somehow out of place when you think of minor league baseball. Dare I say it, the experience is almost uncomfortably "corporate." I have no problem with advertising throughout the stadium, and greatly enjoy the hokey product placement/tie-ins that come up during the game (broken bats are "sponsored" by a lumber dealer, foul balls that go into the parking lot are "sponsored" by the local autoglass repair shop, etc.), but there's some line somewhere that got crossed ever so slightly I think.

Our seats were the same each time, and we also shared the section with many other season ticket holders. The family in the row in front of us were very nice and had two young kids who were cute without being annoying. Their mother turned out to be a bit of a Ports fanatic and the family (or portions of it) apparently attended almost every home game. She even bought the college jersey worn by one of the Ports top players, Luke Appert, off eBay for him to sign before one game. She was also quite good at getting her or her kids involved in one of the many wacky between-innings contests.

So, do I miss having a pro team in town for my baseball fix? Not really. For better or worse, minor league games are a bit more exciting than major league games, the baseball less refined and a combined 15-20 runs per game isn't unusual. The smaller crowds also help the overall experience. It's been a fun season and the "effort" of attending regularly had a lot to do with that. So, yea, I'm looking forward to next season.